Saga #23 (Image)

writer: Brian K. Vaughan
artist: Fiona Staples

via Image Comics

There's a bunch of stuff that happens in this issue, but the crux of its impact is in this line from Hazel, the narrator of the series who speaks in retrospect because in the present she's the toddler offspring of lead characters Alana and Marko:

"This was the story of how my parents split up.  But it's not the end of our story."

You see, I can't decide if Brian K. Vaughan has pulled a bait-and-switch or not.   You see, back in #19, she originally declared the first part of that quote.  I was devastated.  Who wants to suddenly discover that you're reading a romantic tragedy when all along you think you've been reading the galactic Romeo & Juliet (oh, wait...)?

Did he reconsider?  Or is it a matter of potentially disgruntled readers to decide?

It's not a deal-breaker, mind.  I can imagine some readers considering it one.  If this were a TV series, it might even be considered a jump-the-shark moment.

I'm making a big deal about this because this is exactly what this issue should be remembered for, a crucial moment in the series.  There's a chance I've been misinterpreting these developments because I missed vital moments from issues I haven't read.  But for what it is, for the span of these past five issues (nearly half a year), it's seemed as if Vaughan had flipped the script on the whole story.  It's not as if Alana and Marko have had an easy ride to date.  In fact, the whole series is about how rough they've had it.  But the idea, seemingly, was that they always had a chance at a happy ending, or at least boom-boom death, which would therefore remove their fates once and for all from their own hands.  For Vaughan to have spent a span of the series suggesting otherwise might be considered reader manipulation.

I'll keep reading regardless.  But now there's an inkling of doubt in creator credibility.  In literature, Hazel might be considered an unreliable narrator, but she certainly took her sweet time reaching that point.  It's at a juncture like this that I begin to wonder how long this series will actually be.  The comparable Starflight is apparently ending after six issues, a fact I just learned.  Mark Millar tends to do stories like that, though (and if it's really popular, like Kick-Ass, a few additional mini-series to follow).  Vaughan sticks around for longer.  How much longer this time?

And do I have to worry about something like this again?